North Korea releases 85-year-old U.S. veteran of Korean War

SEOUL — North Korea said Saturday it had released an elderly U.S. citizen it had held for more than a month, having taken into account his “sincere” apology for crimes against the state and his “advanced age and health condition.”

Merrill Newman, 85, a Korean War veteran, traveled to Pyongyang in October as a tourist but was removed from a plane by North Korean authorities just before returning home. The North last week accused Newman of a long list of “indelible crimes” committed during the war six decades ago and released a videotaped confession in which Newman read an awkwardly written four-page apology.

U.S. officials said Newman landed in Beijing on Saturday morning. Japan’s Kyodo news agency quoted Newman as saying he was “glad” to be returning home and excited to see his wife.

“We are pleased that Mr. Merrill Newman has been allowed to depart 1/8North Korea 3/8 and re-join his family,” Marie Harf, a deputy spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said in a statement. “We welcome 1/8North Korea’s 3/8 decision to release him.”

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Newman’s release, announced in a three-paragraph bulletin from the North’s state-run news agency, marked an abrupt end to an episode that prompted the U.S. government to recommend against tourist travel to the secretive authoritarian state.

During the war, Newman had supervised a group of South Korean guerillas that carried out some of the most dangerous and damaging missions. Though Newman traveled back to the North in October with a valid tourist visa — and in the company of a friend from his retirement community — some analysts say it was a risky decision. The North often cites Washington’s wartime “imperialist” behavior as the basis for its modern-day military build-up.

The North’s state-run news agency said Saturday that after the completion of an investigation, Newman had been deported “from a humanitarian viewpoint.”

Vice President Joe Biden, laying a wreath at a war memorial in Seoul, said he had spoken briefly with Newman by phone.

“There is a piece of good news. The DPRK today released someone they should never have had in the first place: Mr. Newman,” Biden said.

“I’m told we tried to get in contact with him 1/8but 3/8 he’s on his way or in China right now. I offered him a ride home on Air Force Two, but as he pointed out, there’s a direct flight to San Francisco, his home. I don’t blame him. I’d be on that flight too. It’s a positive thing they’ve done.”

Biden said the United States would continue to demand the release of another American, Kenneth Bae, who has been held for more than a year. Including Newman, North Korea has detained at least seven Americans since 2009, six of whom have been released.

“At least there’s one ray of sunshine today. Mr. Newman will be reunited with his family,” he said.

Biden, in aviator sunglasses and a brown leather bomber jacket, arrived by helicopter to a landing zone near the DMZ and was escorted by military officials to a lookout post at Observation Post Ouellette. The observatory is about 25 meters from the border. His granddaughter Finnegan accompanied him. “Welcome to the end of the world,” a U.S. soldier said.

A Korean soldier described the post to Biden, who peered at North Korea through binoculars.

Biden later addressed U.S. and Korean troops briefly.

During the vice president’s trip, which also included stops in Japan and China, he and his aides have discussed North Korea’s nuclear program with leaders of all three countries. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spent much of their 5 1/2 hours of bilateral meetings discussing North Korea, officials said.

In a speech at Yonsei University in Seoul on Friday, Biden warned that “North Korea needs to understand they cannot return to the old pattern of seeking rewards for bad behavior.”

“Let there be no doubt that the United States of America is committed to doing what it takes to defend our allies and ourselves from North Korea aggression. Period,” Biden said.